The Waiting Mugs
by SanctuaryAgent
Summary: Tragedy strikes the life of Emma Swan when someone she loves is murdered. Determined to find the killer no matter what, Emma stumbles upon a dark and twisted plot that may ruin what is left of her precious family. (SwanQueen, Major Character Death)


Prologue-

Cold wind howled outside the snow battered mansion as the harsh Maine winter roared onward. Inside Regina sat by the fire, her hands wrapped around a mug of hot apple cider and her shoulders covered by a soft blanket. The raven haired woman had been unable to make it to town hall early that morning due to the buildup of ice on the road. She was still dressed in her work attire after her fruitless attempts to get to her office, her silky white blouse was tucked into her black pants and the top few buttons were unbuttoned, exposing a black lace tank top. On the coffee table in front of her a cup of hot coco with cinnamon sat waiting, just like the mayor, for the blonde sheriff to arrive.

Unlike Regina, Emma had been required to go into work and patrol the streets of town in her police cruiser in order to block off problem areas and make sure no trees had come down during the ongoing storm. The blonde had left early in the morning after throwing a tantrum about having to get up that Regina had only chuckled at. She was supposed to be back at any moment according to her text and Regina sat waiting for the return of her girlfriend so that they could have some alone time.

The house was completely empty, except for Regina. Henry had run off as soon as he had found out it was a snow day. The boy planned on spending the whole day with August reading comic books and watching Disney movies. It made Regina smile as she thought about how close the two boys had become; they were the best of friends and did practically everything together.

Regina was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a knocking at the front door. Getting to her feet she shrugged the blanket off and put the cider down, rolling her eyes she thought, _Great Emma forgot her keys again. I swear she would forget her head if it weren't attached to her body. _Her stilettos clicked on the hard wood floor as she walked up to the front door, unlocking it and opening it with a smile. The smiled quickly disappeared when she saw the person standing in her doorway, it wasn't Emma. Her eyes widened and she gasped, "What are you doing out in this weather? Are you crazy!? You'll freeze to death out there."

The mayor received no answer except the chattering of teeth.

"Get in here dear before you catch your death." Regina demanded and pulled the visitor into the warm mansion by the arm. "What the hell are you thinking? Being outside in this weather without even a proper coat! Are you trying to get yourself sick?" Regina said firmly as she closed and locked the door again.

Still no answer, but the chattering began to slow due to the warmth of the house.

Regina turned to face the newcomer and her eyebrows furrowed, "Are you alright?" She asked and took a step closer.

No answer.

Regina's jaw shifted a bit as she examined the person in front of her. "Come on, let's get you warmed up. I don't want to be held responsible if you catch a cold or the flu." She said and walked past the figure heading towards the kitchen.

The teeth chattering had completely vanished and silence filled the house, all except for the click of Regina's heels and the soft shuffle of the being following her.

Regina sighed as she opened the cabinet; she had wanted to have the afternoon alone with Emma. Now she had to be hostess until the storm cleared, _Great. _She thought sarcastically. "I know that no one trusts anything apple related that I offer, but it's the warmest thing I have right now. So sorry dear, you're going to have to be stuck with hot apple cider made by yours truly."

No reply.

Regina began to feel uneasy; she knew something was up now. No one ever let her go so long using sarcasm without biting back. She was about to close the cabinet when she felt something snap around her wrist. "Hey!" She growled and pulled her wrist away. Looking at her wrist she felt her stomach fill with dread, her eyes widened as she stared at the leather cuff on her wrist, the cuff she knew all too well from experience with Owen and Tamara.

She pulled on it desperately her gaze snapping up to meet cold emotionless eyes. "What the hell is going on!" She demanded and began to back away, her hand searching the counter for something to defend herself with.

Hollow, emotionless eyes stared back at her. Each step backwards that she took was matched by a squeaky step forward. Regina still received no response, except for a humming that sounded forced and unnatural, almost like a grunt.

As her adversary began to close the distance between them Regina turned and ran out the swinging door into the living room. She would have never been able to get to the knife wrack in the kitchen, and had found no such luck in finding any sort of weapon on her spotless kitchen counter. So she had been forced to turn and run in the hopes that she might be able to lock herself behind in a room in order to protect herself.

Regina raced through into the living room, her feet dead set on leading her to the bathroom in the hall just past the living room. She cried out in surprise and pain as she felt her attacker crash into her and knock her off balance, making her slam to the ground. Regina grunted as she hit the ground, she tried to scramble to her feet, but received a kick to her side.

As she rolled away in pain, her eyes locked onto a poker by the fire. She began to try and scramble frantically towards it, knowing that she had to defend herself somehow and magic was out of the question now.

She reached her hand out to grab the poker and her finger tips brushed it, but before she could grasp the iron rod she felt herself being pulled back by her feet several inches. Regina cried out and kicked, hitting her attacker several times with hard powerful kicks.

"No! Let go of me! Let go of me!" Regina cried out and clawed at the ground trying desperately to reach the poker which was now at least three feet away. She turned back to her attacker and kicked out again, but no matter how hard she struck her opponent kept coming. Regina cried out in pain as she felt a harsh hand grab onto her ankle and squeeze, she screamed as the bones cracked under the pressure.

"What the hell do you want?" Regina cried out as she continued to fight.

Again there was no response, just the horrible humming that seemed louder and almost desperate.

Regina kicked out with her other leg, not willing to give in without a fight. Her foot connected with her attacker's chest and her leg was immediately grabbed onto. Regina screamed in agony as an elbow was brought down hard onto her leg. She continued to scream and fight as the attacker lowered themselves to their knees, sticking their hand in their pocket and pulling out a long sharp knife.

Regina tried to scramble away desperately, but the weight of her adversary on her pelvis and her injured legs kept her from getting anywhere. She screamed for help and clawed at her attacker's face, one of her hands trying to force back the knife. Regina's nails succeeded in leaving long angry red marks that bled slightly on the face of her attacker.

Suddenly with great speed and strength Regina's wrists were grasped tight in the hands of the being on top of her and were slammed onto the ground above Regina's head with agonizing amount of force. One hand remained and held Regina's wrists in place, and the other hand with the knife returned to focus elsewhere.

"No please! Please don't! PLEASE! I'M BEGGING YOU!" Regina cried out with tears streaming down her face and her head shaking.

Cold emotionless eyes stared at Regina, and the humming had become a roar in the back of the beings throat. The hand with the knife rose and positioned over Regina's stomach.

"YOU CAN'T DO THIS! THINK OF HENRY AND EMMA! THEY NEED ME! PLEASE! I'M SORRY FOR EVERYTHING! JUST PLEASE DON- AHHH!" Regina was cut off by a cry of pain as the knife stabbed into her core, cutting into her like butter.

The hand rose and stabbed again and again and again, crimson blooming across Regina's silky white blouse as blood surged forth out of her multiple wounds.

Tears streamed from Regina's whiskey brown eyes as she looked up into the eyes of her attacker, no her murderer, the eyes were a void, empty, containing no emotion at all. But the humming, it echoed in Regina's ears as she bled out, like an ongoing roar of desperation.

After several moments the weight from on top of Regina and the weight on her wrists disappeared, her attacker had fled, leaving her to bleed out and die. Regina's limbs felt like lead, but she brought her hands down, resting one on her stomach and she felt her warm slick blood gushing between her fingers.

A coldness had begun to spread over Regina even though she was only a few feet from the roaring fire. The pain in her core and legs had begun to numb until she couldn't feel anything. Her eyes looked past the two mugs on the table, and past the couch where only moments ago she had sat waiting for Emma, they looked past the door where she had unknowingly let her own murderer in. Regina's whiskey brown eyes focused on the small windows around the door, she watched the snow fall and watched the steps, she wished Emma would come charging up the steps through the snow. She wanted more than anything to not be alone right now, she had lived so much of her life alone, and now she was dying alone.

Regina's eyes continued to watch the snow as her world began to blur and darken. Her eyes didn't leave the falling flakes, even as the last light of life left them, she still lay there in a pool of crimson, watching the snow, waiting for Emma.

**Okay, I know already that you hate me for this. But hey feel free to inform me anyway. I'm sorry, I know people never want Regina to die, but suck it up because I hate it too, but for some reason I always write about it. Feel free to guess who her murderer was, I already know, and it is more complicated than you might think. Let me know if I should continue or not and please review. Love you all!**


End file.
